A/N: Okay. Real talk. Did anyone else think the lyrics in the bridge of "I Lied" were "You got that real love, that sex in the morning" . . .? No? Ok.
"So what's on the agenda today, girls?" Brittany asks the teenagers as she sets down the orange juice, to complete their full breakfast.
"Well, I have to go down to the studio for a bit to finish this new track with Snoop Dogg. He wants to make another Christmas Album."
"You're working with Snoop Dogg?" Lauren asks incredulously, with her mouth full of the mango that Brittany set out for her. Lauren's picky eating habits were shown very easily into the visit, but the older couple had no problem accommodating to her and her needs.
"Lauren, don't talk with your mouth full. That's gross." Ally scolds from her spot at the end of the island.
The older girl sticks her tongue out but stays silent nonetheless. She returns her gaze on Anna as an indicator to continue the conversation.
"Yeah I am. It's definitely gonna be interesting." Anna smirks before popping a piece of bacon in her mouth.
"That's really cool." The eighteen year-old nods, impressed.
"Do you want to come with me? If you don't have any plans right now, I mean?" The short woman asks.
"Are you serious? Yes, I would love to! Wait, Camz, what time is our date tonight?" Lauren asks excitedly, officially startling the sleepy girl, who was lazily eating her eggs.
"Date?!" All of the women in the room say at once. Camila looks around the room to find the women staring at her and Lauren.
"Look who decided to grow some balls!" Dinah cackles, nudging Normani who is laughing with her.
"Look who decided to grow some balls." Camila mocks her best friend. "The concerts at seven thirty, but I have something planned beforehand so I want to leave by five-thirty."
"Snoop only has the studio booked from nine to two anyways, and I don't plan on staying too long today, so we'll be back by then. Is it okay if I steal your girl away from you for a little bit?" Anna smirks at the oldest Latina.
Camila rolls her eyes and waves her hand, since her mouth is full with the delicious eggs Brittany made.
Lauren beams and kisses Camila on the cheek. She shovels a few more pieces of mango into her mouth and rushes to get up. "What time should I be ready by?"
"If you could be back in here in like ten minutes that would be awesome."
"Sounds good! Mani, come with me! I want your help picking out an outfit!" Lauren grabs a hold of her friend and begrudgingly pulls her up. But of course, it's no problem for Normani, she will help anyone with a fashion crisis at any time of the day.
"Aren't you going to finish your food, Mani?" Dinah asks, stopping the girls from leaving the large kitchen.
"Yes, once I'm done helping her. I promise." She gives her girlfriend a quick kiss on the lips and allows Lauren to pull her out the room. Dinah nods and hopes that she is telling the truth. She is ninety percent sure Normani is doing well with her eating, but her worst fear is the love of her life having a relapse. She will never forget the fear that she felt when Normani collapsed on her back in the tenth grade. Even though they weren't even together at that time, Dinah felt like her entire world collapsed with her, and she would do anything to make sure that Normani is taking care of herself.
"How is she doing, by the way?" Brittany asks the three girls.
"From what we can see, she's doing well, right guys?" Ally asks.
"Yeah, she's okay. Seeing her therapist once a week. I wouldn't say she is recovered completely but she is well on her way. I'm so proud of her." Dinah's cheeks heat up, and she won't bring attention to it, but she teared up a little as well.
"That's great to hear, girls." Brittany smiles brightly. She rubs the younger blonde on her back a little before standing up and heading over to fix herself a coffee. The teenagers in the kitchen fall into their own conversation about who knows what. Teenager drama is all Anna can guess. The smaller woman stands up and wraps her arms around her girlfriend from behind. "You'll never guess who it is."
"Hmm, is it Beyoncé?" Brittany smiles as she turns around in Anna's arms, but lets it fall when she sees the woman. "You're not Beyoncé."
"And you're not funny." The feisty thirty year-old laughs. She leans in to kiss her longtime girlfriend.
"You know, that was really nice of you to ask Lauren to come with you."
"I'm just trying to let her have a nice experience in New York." She shrugs.
"I can tell that you asking her means a lot. Make sure that she has a good time alright?"
"Of course, honey."
"Who knew that the girl with the tattoos and permanent grimace that I met in the showers would have a heart?"
"Oh you're so funny." Anna rolls her eyes.
"And the sarcasm returns." The blonde sighs playfully. "Go finish your breakfast, I didn't slave over it just for you to not eat it." She taps the DJ on her small butt, urging her to go sit back down at the island with the teenagers.
"What do you guys plan on doing today?" Anna asks, before placing some more waffle bites in her mouth.
"Sleeping until Lauren gets back." Camila mumbles.
"Why are you so tired? You and Lauren get up to some business last night?" Dinah snorts.
"What?! No! And don't even talk about us! 'Ugh, Dinah, do that again' 'Dinah, don't stop' 'Dinah, I'm coming!'" the Latina mocks, laughing.
"Shoo, that must've been a wild dream you were having, Mila, because I don't know what you're talking about." The blonde blushes, and reaches to eat a piece of Lauren's mango slices. Last night when Dinah attempted to leave her girlfriend high and dry she literally almost got murdered, so of course she gave in. And like always, Mani wasn't exactly quiet.
"Wait, you guys had sex in our guest room?" Anna asks, grimacing.
"I'm sorry. My girlfriend is hot." Dinah shrugs, just fully admitting it. She knows Anna or Brittany won't really care. They're really chill like that. Plus, she's never been one to keep her sex life in the dark, she's pretty much an open book.
"I hope you plan on washing those sheets." The older woman narrows her eyes.
"Babe, chill out, we've done worse." Brittany laughs from her position near their Keurig.
"Eh, true." The thirty year-old smirks.
"Y'all are nasty." Ally shakes her head. "Not that anyone cares, but I'm going to a dance workshop today, so I'll be leaving shortly."
"Oh, where is it? I could get Jason to drop you off on the way to work." Anna asks. She takes a sip of her orange juice and looks at her niece expectantly.
"Can you please? It's at Pearl Studios on 8th. I really don't feel like taking the sub."
"That's like a minute away from the studio. Of course, kid."
"Thanks Auntie! I'll be back in a second ready to go, lemme just grab my bag really quick." The small Latina kisses her aunt on her pale cheek enthusiastically before running down the hallway to her room. Within seconds Ally bounds back into the kitchen with her dance bag over her muscular shoulder. Anna has to say, Ally's need to always be completely ready for the day before eating does come in handy. She remembers when she was younger and would babysit Ally she would have to wait forever just for the little girl to pick out her clothes/ get dressed then brush her teeth/wash her face before she could let herself settle down to eat. Anna wasn't sure if it was a form of anxiety in the child, but Ally was very anal as a kid so she guesses it makes sense.
"Okay! I'm ready!" the short girl says happily.
"Okay! I'm not! And neither is Lauren, so hold off little one."
"Little one? You're just as short as me!" Ally's jaw drops dramatically.
"Not quite, kid, but nice try."
"I'm ready!" Lauren exclaims as she comes back into the kitchen. Camila looks up at her girl and wants to get on her knees and thank Normani for picking out so much of Lauren's clothes when they went shopping. The pale Latina is dressed in a white long-sleeved sweater that is cropped just right so just a little bit of her toned stomach shows above her light distressed jeans. Her outfit is complete with her new pair of white leather Doc Martens.
"You look good, babe." Camila can't help herself but to compliment the girl. It's nice to see her in her own clothes, and not just in whatever Camila gave her. Although Camila's one hundred percent sure that if Lauren were to wear a fucking trash bag she would still look gorgeous.
"Thanks Camz." She smiles, looking down at her outfit with a smile. Lauren blindly reaches for a few more pieces of her mangos and looks down surprised when she sees that they are all gone.
"My mangos are all gone?" she asks, looking up confused. Dinah looks up with wide eyes and Lauren immediately puts her gaze on her.
"Dinah!" she whines. "I hate you."
"Dinah!" Brittany exclaims. "Those were only for Lauren." She scolds, much like a mother would. She turns to Lauren, who is glaring at the blonde. Brittany figures that the green-eyed girl would look intimidating if it wasn't for the fact that she cannot even harm a fly. "Do you want me to cut you some more, sweetie?"
"Well, actually we sort of have to go . . ?" Anna trails off awkwardly.
"No it's fine, I'm full. But I'll remember that Dinah!" Lauren playfully glares at the taller girl and makes the "I got my eyes on you" gesture. "Bye Camz." She kisses the girl on her cheek, causing her to blush. Normani snorts and Dinah shoves the poor girl.
"Aww, isn't that cute?" Dinah mocks.
"Cheechee I will fight you." Camila responds, crossing her arms.
"That's my cue to leave. Normani, make sure these two don't kill each other when we're gone." Anna stands up and puts her plate into the sink. She kisses her longtime girlfriend on the lips and grabs her phone off the counter.
She turns to the two standing teenagers. "You girls ready?"
They both nod their heads. And stand up to leave. Anna nods her head and starts to leave the large kitchen.
"Lauren, don't forget your coat!" Brittany calls to the teenager. Yesterday the group went out for some sight-seeing and Lauren, who only knows of Miami weather, forgot her coat at the penthouse. Thankfully, Anna had no problem running into H&M and grabbing one for the girl really quick. It all worked out in the end because she didn't have a winter coat.
"Shit!" her fast footsteps are heard as she bounds down to her and Camila's temporary room and back into the hallway. "Thanks, Brittany!"
"You're welcome, sweetie." The blonde smiles. She always enjoys having Ally and the girls over, and Lauren is just the sweetest. She can tell that she has had a positive effect on the group of girls, especially Camila. Brittany doesn't know her as well as Anna does, but she can see the slight changes in Camila, from how affectionate she is with the girl all the way down to how she carries herself. It's insane how one person can affect another so greatly without them realizing it.
"Goodbye love!" Anna yells from the foyer before exiting and walking into their private elevator. Lauren and Ally quickly follow the producer, engaging small conversation about Ally's plans for the day.
"So like, when you do these workshops and stuff, what do you do there?" The black-haired girl asks the petite one.
"Well, it really depends on what type of workshop it is. The one I'm going to today is for professional dancers. Basically it's like a big class where you learn different combinations and perform them at the end of the session. Most professional workshops have Broadway and professional performers there to teach it. Sometimes agents and scouts come to scope out upcoming talent." Ally says as they get into the elevator
Lauren nods. "So like, since you're eighteen do you go to adult workshops or is there a teen one or something?"
"I have to go to the adult workshops. Sometimes it can get intimidating because everyone is older than me, but I'm confident that I can hold my own. Confidence is key when you're a performer. There's no way you can get anywhere in the industry without having faith and being confident in your abilities. Because if you're not, they'll tear you to shreds."
"Damn, that sounds brutal. Even at these workshops it can get bad?"
Ally nods with a grimace. "Hell yeah. Trust me, if you're not on point it can get pretty bad. I would know."
"Oh geez, I remember that." Anna snorts and shakes her head. She steps out of the elevator into the lobby with the two girls following her.
"Good morning, Miss Kendrick." Will, one of receptionists at the front desk, greets the powerful woman. It's no secret to the rest of the apartment residents that the Anna Kendrick and her longtime girlfriend, Brittany Snow live in the top two floors of the building.
"Hello, Will." Anna replies, putting on her sunglasses and continuing her trek out the front doors.
"Wait, so what happened?" Lauren asks after watching the exchange. Ally's aunt really is a little badass.
"The last workshop I went to before I landed Annie was pretty disastrous." The Latina shakes her head at the embarrassing yet painful memory.
"Weren't you like, a kid, though?"
"Yeah, I was ten."
The two pause the conversation to get into the vehicle. Anna sits in the front next to the driver and Lauren and Ally pile into the back of the spacious car.
"Good morning, Miss Kendrick. Good morning ladies."
"Sup, dude." Anna greets, like a true professional.
It's so funny to Lauren how unexpected Anna's personality is. From just knowing her status (she is someone who is clearly well off, and her and Brittany's two-story penthouse at the top of their building pretty much proves it), Lauren would expect her to be a bitch. Even her whole demeanor throws Lauren off. She has a scowl on her face almost 24/7 and looks annoyed all the time, so it's so unexpected to find out how chill and cool Anna actually is.
"Good morning." The two Latinas greet, somewhat in unison.
"Wait, so what happened?" Lauren asks, turning to her friend, interested in what she has to say.
Ally sighs. "So, at this particular workshop, it was an audition workshop for kids. So there was a fake 'judges panel', with like eight adults that were really intimidating. How they had it set up was the kids would go up for their audition, do it in front of everyone, and then get feedback from the 'judges'. After my turn, the judges were pretty harsh on me. They basically tore me apart, saying that my audition was horrible and that I needed to improve a lot more before I actually tried auditioning for real shows. They kept on saying 'You can do better than that', and made me sing my song over three times before they just brushed me off and moved on to the next kid."
"Shit, that sounds horrible." Lauren grimaces.
"Trust me, it was. Ally went crazy. I remember Jerry asked me to stay there with her, so I was just chilling outside the studio and then little Ally just ran out to me crying saying she wanted to go home."
"Anna was a total badass, though. She picked me up, carried me into the studio, yelled at all of the adults in the room, and then left."
"Damn." Lauren laughs. "What happened afterwards?"
"The person in charge of the workshop gave my parents the money back and I stayed away from workshops. Six months later I got my confidence back up and auditioned for Annie, which was a success, obviously."
"I still can't believe that, Ally. How you could perform for huge crowds around the country at such a young age, that's insane. You're crazy talented, dude."
"Aw you're so sweet." Ally leans over and pulls Lauren into a tight hug. The two girls don't really get much time together with just them, so even this ten-minute car ride means so much to both of them. They feel the car come to a stop and Ally lets go of the older girl to see that they are pulled outside the studio.
"We have arrived, Miss Hernandez."
"Oh! Thanks for the ride, Auntie! I love you and I'll see you later!" Ally leans forward to kiss the pale woman on her cheek and hugs Lauren goodbye.
"Bye guys!" She climbs out the car and walks up to the doors before disappearing through them.
"I love her." Lauren smiles.
"She's a cutie. I never thought I would have a family let alone a niece. She's my sunshine." Anna smiles.
"That is so cute." Lauren smiles again.
"Ugh, let's end this sappy talk before I throw up. We're here." The millionaire lets the car come to a stop and steps to get out. Lauren thanks the driver and steps out of the car. She stops to look up at the tall and shiny building.
"Holy crap. This is where you work?" she asks in wonder.
"Yup, now come on, Kid. Snoop is waiting." Anna smirks. Lauren nods and follows the woman into the double door entrance.
* * *
"Camila, I just want you to know how much I appreciate this and you." Lauren looks around at the restaurant Camila brought her to and laughs.
"It's no problem babe. You should just wife me up already. Clearly from this divine cuisine I know the way to your heart." Camila smiles and sips some of her Sprite.
"Oh yeah. Clearly." Lauren laughs and takes a few bites of her French fries. She moans at the first taste and closes her eyes. "I love McDonald's fries so much."
"I know right?" Camila pops a few of her own into her mouth. "Have you ever eaten them in the shower?"
"What the fuck? No?" The younger brunette looks at her date like she's crazy.
"Why are you looking at me like that? That is not a weird thing to ask, Lo. I'm sure more than half the people in here have done it." She quickly defends.
"I know for a fact they haven't." She snorts and runs a hand through her hair. "You're lucky you're on this first date with me or else you would definitely have some other girl running for the hills by now."
Camila glares at her friend and angrily takes a bite of her chicken nugget. "What's that supposed to mean? Bitch you're lucky you're on this date with me!" The brunette chews obnoxiously on the piece of meat, getting ketchup on the side of her mouth.
Lauren looks at the older girl endearingly. "You're fucking adorable, Camz." She wipes up her date's mouth with the rough napkin, causing her to pout.
"I'm not cute, I'm a badass."
"Whatever you say, baby." Lauren pecks her on lips. "Now eat your food." Camila tries to stop herself from smiling as she continues her five-star meal.
"Have I told you, you look hot today?" Lauren asks bluntly.
"No you haven't." Camila replies coyly.
"Well even though you're fishing for compliments. . You look hot as fuck. You should wear beanies more often."
Since their date is a 1975 concert, Camila didn't want to overdress, so she decided to dress in a plain oversized white t-shirt, slick black joggers, and black vans. Her outfit is complete with a black and brown leather jacket, and a black beanie on her head.
The brown-eyed girl blushes and kisses her on her cheek. "Thanks, babe. You don't look so bad yourself."
"Oh, thanks, Camz! Mani helped me pick this one out." She gestures down to her plaid red short-sleeved shirt, faded black pants, and black doc martens.
"I hate winter concerts, though. I never know what to wear. Plus, the vibes are not as good as summer shows."
Lauren shrugs. "I wouldn't know. This is my first concert." She puts some more fries into her mouth.
"I'm so pumped for you! This is my first time seeing them too so I'm glad we get to experience them for the first time together." The older girl reaches over and grabs Lauren's pale hand. Lauren looks up at the girl sitting next to her and blushes. If she's being honest, she hasn't been on that many dates, but none of the people she's been with have made her feel a quarter of the way how she feels about Camila. All of those dates have been at generic places like the movies, or just a plain dinner date at a semi-expensive restaurant. Camila literally took her to fucking McDonalds and she's ready to ask her out. The Cuban-Mexican girl has somehow made a permanent place into her usually guarded heart and while one side of Lauren is terrified, the other welcomes her in and just prays that she won't break her heart.
"Me too."
"Are you ready to go? We should probably head over to the show now."
"Yeah! Let's go." Lauren pops the rest of her fries into her mouth and stands up. She feels Camila grab her hand and quickly guide her through the large crowd. She doesn't even give Lauren a chance to start to feel nervous from the amount of people and for that she is eternally grateful. The only complaint Lauren can have about New York is how much people there are everywhere.
"How far away is the theatre from here?"
"Its only about three blocks away, are you okay with walking?" She asks, tightening her grip on her friend's hand.
"I'm fine with walking. I should be asking you! I bet you by the time we get to the end of this block you're going to be complaining about something."
"Um, what is that supposed to mean?" Camila asks playfully, bumping her shoulder with her companions.
"You like to complain, that's all. But that's okay, everyone has their flaws. Some just more than others." The green-eyed girl giggles playfully.
"Oh ha ha. You've been hanging around Anna too much, you're being mean today." They turn a left on a corner, and continue walking straight.
"Oh my God, Camz. She's literally amazing at what she does. It was so cool being a real studio, I felt like some big recording artist." She gushes.
Camila squeezes her hand. "I'm glad, babe. How was meeting Snoop?"
"It was fucking dope! He's so tall in person. And I have to say it was fucking hilarious watching him sing classic Christmas songs." She exclaims. Camila snorts at the thought. She can imagine that's a pretty funny sight.
"I can imagine." She giggles in response.
The two girls continue the ten-minute walk to the venue in a comfortable silence. When they walk up to the PlayStation Theater, the security guard asks to look into Camila's purse and she was glad to let him scan her for any contraband. She used to be annoyed with concert security, but with all of the things happening in the world right now, she is more than happy with going through all of the extra security measures. If going through four separate security checkpoints means that her and her girl are going to be safe, she'll do it without a doubt.
"Tickets?" the concert staff asks the two girls once they finally make it through the security.
Camila unlaces their hands to fish the two tickets out of her purse. The woman scans them and wishes them to enjoy the show with a frown. Nothing like good hospitality in New York City.
"Where are our seats?" Lauren asks, as Camila leads her through the large room.
"I got us front row balcony seats. I figured you wouldn't want to be on the floor with all the crazies. Plus we'll have an amazing view."
Lauren knew that Camila wouldn't get nosebleed seats for them but it's amazing how much thought the girl put into this. The younger girl kisses her on her cheek in appreciation. "Thank you, Camz. Seriously."
"No problem, hunny." The Latina smiles goofily. "Now come on loser."
Lauren is pulled into the seating area and they are quickly helped into their seats by one of the ushers. The two girls made it within five minutes of the starting time so they were able to relax a little before The 1975 took the stage. Thankfully for them, there was no opening act so they weren't forced to listen to a band that they did not really care to listen to. The band started off strong with "Love Me" and both girls were in awe. The visuals, the sounds, Matty Healy, just everything about the show was amazing.
During the encore of Chocolate, Lauren turned to Camila and just stopped and watched her as she swung her hips and sang loudly to the lyrics. Her hair is messy and her beanie came off a long time ago. But to Lauren she still looks perfect. She was really falling for this girl. Fast.
"Why are you staring at me?" Camila asks, looking at her with a smirk.
"You're just perfect."
"I'll beg to differ." The brunette laughs.
"Shut up." Lauren kisses her deeply, and Camila quickly melts into the kiss with the band's performance quickly fading into the distance.
A/N: Hope y'all enjoyed the chapter. I was wondering, do y'all want to see a picture of me? Since I don't have one uploaded anywhere on here, I figured it would be nice to put a name to a face. If you don't that's cool, I'll keep my ugliness to myself, lmao.
Stay safe. Be healthy. Make good decisions. Continue being awesome. I love you all.
Until next time.
-Tiyana